


A Faint Light

by thelyphonida



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Spoilers, more tags will be added with chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:08:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26329897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelyphonida/pseuds/thelyphonida
Summary: Mikhail is just one of many refugees staying in the Praetorium. He eventually realizes they have a much more grim fate than he'd originally thought.
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Mikhail gingerly touched a finger to the stone in his chest. It was still tender from earlier that day, when they'd put it in him. He didn't remember any of the procedure (which he was thankful for), but he'd seen it done to others enough times to have a rough idea of how it went.

The stone emitted a very faint glow at his touch, illuminating the dark room with a soft blue light. 

A core crystal.

The idea of shoving a core crystal into a human had never occurred to him before coming to Indol. He supposed it was a similar idea to flesh-eaters, though he knew very little about those.

Mikhail's head snapped up at the sound of footsteps. He snatched his hand away from the crystal, dousing the room in darkness once more. He scrambled onto the cot behind him, pulling the sheets over himself. He held his breath as the footsteps grew closer, stopping on the other side of the door.

_"Is this the newest one?"_ he heard one of the guards murmur.

_"It is,"_ a second guard confirmed, probably nodding too.

_"How long until the Praetor wants them gone?"_ a third guard asked.

Mikhail tensed. _Gone?_

_"A few days, at the least,"_ the first guard said. _"This one was one of the last ones."_

One of the guards sighed. _"What a shame. They would've been so useful, especially the newer ones."_

_"The Praetorium can't let them wander around Alrest,"_ a different guard said. Mikhail couldn't tell which one was which anymore. _"It's better that they're destroyed."_

_"But couldn't we use them to fight?"_

_"The risks outweigh the benefits."_

_"I see your point,"_ one of the guards said, probably the one who'd said it was a shame.

Mikhail waited for them to say more, but they never did. He could still hear the echoes of their footsteps as they'd walked away, while he'd stayed frozen under the thin blanket of his cot.

He kept repeating their conversation in his head, always getting caught on the words _"gone"_ and _"destroyed."_

They were going to kill him, him and every other "refugee" they'd taken in, just to cover their tracks.

Mikhail felt sick to his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It always bothered me that they never really delved into any of this in the game
> 
> -
> 
> Beginning of the chapter (and possibly the whole story) is partially inspired by a drawing by cocotte on pixiv


	2. Chapter 2

Mikhail stopped in the entrance to the courtyard. He’d come here every morning for months with no issue. He didn’t want to this time. Nonetheless, he felt compelled to enter anyway. 

Every day, they herded the crowd to the center of the courtyard. They'd stand around for a bit and then some monk would come out and ramble to the crowd. Mikhail never paid enough attention to know exactly what. 

Mikhail stayed rooted to where he stood, even as the rest of the crowd dispersed to go stand around somewhere else. He watched a group of children play some game, laughing and smiling at each other. He quickly looked away, his eyes landing on what appeared to be a mother and her child. He ripped his eyes away from them just as quickly, finally moving from his spot.

He wondered if any of them knew. They probably didn't. Granted, he shouldn't have known either.

Mikhail resisted the urge to touch the crystal in his chest. It was starting to grow on him. It offered some sort of absurd comfort, knowing something like that was a part of him now. At the same time, it felt wrong. What happened to the Blade that the core crystal had once belonged to? Was it dead? Destroyed? Was it locked in there still, waiting for a driver that would never come?

"Hello there," a calm voice said above him. 

Mikhail startled. He hadn’t realized he'd been so deep in his own thoughts. He looked up at the voice's owner. The man looked familiar, but Mikhail couldn't place where he'd seen him. He was obviously Indoline, he could tell from the blue skin and gaudy robes. 

"Tall hat..." he mumbled to himself.

The man touched a hand to his headwear. "Quite. What's your name?"

"Mikhail."

"What a nice name," the man said, nodding. "My name is Amalthus. Praetor Amalthus."

Mikhail squinted at him. That's why he was familiar. He remembered hearing Lora and the others mention his name. Except he'd had a different title then. And a shorter hat.

"Why aren't you with anyone your age?" Amalthus asked.

"They're not my friends." His friends were gone.

"I'm sure they'd be happy to be your friends."

Mikhail turned and walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey!"

Mikhail looked over his shoulder. A girl stood a short distance away, waving her arms in the air. He watched her for a few seconds to make sure she was waving to him before going over.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

Mikhail shrugged. "What do you care," he said flatly.

The girl tilted her head to the side. "My father told me that was the first step to becoming someone's friend."

"Who said I wanted to be your friend?"

"I did!" the girl said, grinning. "Why wouldn't you want to be my friend?"

"Why would I?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

The two of them stared at each other. Mikhail fought the urge to walk away. 

The girl's grin returned. "You're a loner." She nodded to herself. "I see."

Mikhail didn't reply. He wondered what would happen to her in the next few days.

"Are you here by yourself?" the girl asked.

Mikhail nodded.

"Me too. My father was killed."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Mikhail said robotically.

The girl looked down at her feet, smiling melancholically. "Thank you. You too."

Mikhail clenched his jaw. "Thanks."

The girl looked back up at him, blinking quickly. 

"I have to go," Mikhail said quickly before running away.


End file.
